


In Which Karkat Tries to be Mature, Aradia Tries to be Responisble, and Neither of them Really Knows what they're Doing

by ninjaCowdog



Series: In Which the MC, the Felt and Team Sleuth Try to Mess their Kids Up as Little as Possible [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Family Fluff, Gen, Stabdads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-07-15
Packaged: 2018-04-09 11:57:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4347797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninjaCowdog/pseuds/ninjaCowdog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aradia finds Karkat watching romcoms when he should be sleeping. Her latent Sister Instincts are tingling.</p><p>Set in the MC's base.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Which Karkat Tries to be Mature, Aradia Tries to be Responisble, and Neither of them Really Knows what they're Doing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shubbabang](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shubbabang/gifts).



> Posted on tumblr a little while ago for shubbabang's birthday. Now that I have an AO3 account, I'm putting up an edited version here.

“Karkat?” Aradia asked, rubbing at her eyes with balled fists in an attempt to ease their transitioning from the hallways’ darkness to the living room’s dim light. It could have been equated to a verbal prod, she supposed.

He practically jumped out of his skin, a sickening pale under the TV’s illumination, and she felt a little bad.

“Holy shit, you almost gave me a blood-pusher attack…” he sighed, clutching said (likely racing) organ.

“Sorry.” Quietly, she tip-toed her way to the couch and sat down herself next to him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just forget it…” He exhaled again, eternally annoyed as ever, before turning his attention back to the screen. “What are you doing awake at this hour, anyway?”

“Bathroom. I saw light coming from here, so I came to investigate.” She frowned. “What are _you_ doing up at this hour?”

He shrugged, gaze still glued to what she now realized was some kind of romcom. “Couldn’t sleep.”

Her eyebrows knit further together. “Shouldn’t you go to your dad when that happens?”

He snorted disbelievingly. “My dad is Spades fucking Slick, Aradia.”

“Still! Your sleep is important for your growth, Karkat. Do you _want_ to stay short forever?”

She figured what she felt when he winced at the mention of his height was akin to what one might feel after kicking a puppy, but considering the circumstances, it was probably okay.

“Have you ever even tried?”

Karkat shifted awkwardly, as if he wasn’t sure what to do with his own weight. “What’s the point? You know him, he’s not just gonna let me-”

“We both know that’s not true. He’s grumpy, but he really does love you.”

The squirming stopped, replaced by defeated deflation.

“Our dads are _mobsters_.” he grumbled. "If they don’t get enough sleep, they could get sloppy and get themselves _killed_.“

In the ensuing pause, the Cancer troll resumed his romcom watching.

Aradia… couldn’t say she’d expected that response, at least not from a fellow four-sweeper. Maybe she should have, considering how paranoid Karkat always was.

With slightly narrowed eyes, she studied the other wiggler - the way his shoulders slumped, the things the television’s light did to his skin, the dark bags under his eyes.

"This is a normal thing for you.” she realized.

His wince was all the confirmation she needed.

With a sigh, she stood up, hands on hips and gaze expectant. “Come on.” He raised an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes. “We’re basically siblings, Karkat. As your sister, I will take responsibility and let you crawl into my recuprecoon whenever you have a hard time sleeping.”

By the time he processed the previous string of words, she was already turning the TV off and dragging him to her room.

Karkat Vantas was a short, grumpy, self-destructive, nubby-horned, dull-fanged, useless-clawed ball of tightly-wound, volatile feelings who cared way too much for everyone but himself, and she’d be damned if she didn’t keep him alive long enough to see what kind of Hell him, Sollux, Tavros and herself could raise on Alternia when they grew up.

(She felt kind of bad for being so curious about what kind of moirail he’d bring home one day, but under these circumstances, she figured it was okay.)


End file.
